J. Ashley Panter

J. Ashley Panter

Carpe Diem

I ran across this video today and this “poem,” if you will, that really intrigued/spoke to me. It got me thinking, what IS my digital legacy? What will I leave behind? I suppose this website is a great start. I want my digital shadow to be of my digital followers of like mind who also want to be something great and make a difference in the world. I want to open the eyes of young people when it comes to their career aspirations and preparations for those career goals. You don’t have to have a fancy degree or even higher education for a lot of careers. You just have to be good at what you do and always be willing to learn. As they say, knowledge is power. That’s definitely how I got to where I am today.

As a youth with little a plan, my dad oft asked, “What footprints are you going to leave in the sand?” It meant little then, but with time, this became a motivating line.

If up to me, what will be, my ultimate legacy? A legacy for me, it would seem, a far off, lofty dream. After all, who am I? I’m just average, somewhat shy. Then I realized something you see, it is up to me, my ultimate legacy.

Social media, search, mobile, and more, leave digital footprints on the floor. Digital shadows, if you will, following all that I fulfill. My grandchildren and great and children, what will they see and think of me? What is my digital legacy?

Will they see that I pursued my dream, or that I settled, for something in-between? That I lived a life doing things l loved, or one filled with, should of, could of?

Digital footprints remain for all time, so I can’t commit, the ultimate crime. What is that crime, you say? It is, of course, not seizing the day. Yes, before I die, I’d rather fail, than not even try, I will reach for the sky, laugh, and cry. I’ll cry from joy not sorrow, because I lived for today and planned for tomorrow. My legacy, you see, is truly up to me.